Newscasters mobilize for massacre
Networks fight for coverage of shootings
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But those plans were tabled in an instant about 15 minutes into the network ayem newscasts, when a gunman on the campus of Virginia Tech unleashed a shooting spree that left 33 people dead, including the gunman, and at least 26 more wounded in the worst shooting rampage in U.S. history.
The news networks mobilized hundreds of anchors, correspondents and producers to a remote corner of southwestern Virginia, where chaos reigned in the hours after the first burst of gunfire in a dormitory after campus officials mistakenly believed the gunman had fled the school.
CBS' Katie Couric and NBC's Brian Williams were among the high-profile news en route to the campus in Blacksburg, Va. By midafternoon, the Senate Judiciary Committee had rescheduled the Gonzales hearing for Thursday.
ABC and NBC pulled together primetime specials on the shooting, while CBS plans to have Couric anchor a special edition of "48 Hours" tonight.
Fox moved quickly to yank this week's planned original episode of drama "Bones" from its Wednesday lineup. The episode, which was swapped for a "Bones" repeat, dealt with human remains being uncovered on a college campus.
The three broadcast nets planned to devote nearly all their evening newscasts to the massacre. CBS expanded "Evening News" to an hour, while NBC and ABC planned limited commercial interruptions to extend the time available to news coverage.
ABC's "World News" is being sponsored by a single advertiser, Pfizer, which is adding an extra five minutes to the newscast. NBC's "Nightly News" is eliminating one commercial pod from the newscast to accommodate additional reporting.
"The pictures are moving; you have kids being carried out of the building and SWAT teams," said "Nightly News" exec producer Alex Wallace. "This is one of those stories where it could be your kid or my kid."
The shooting started in a co-ed dormitory shortly after 7 a.m. and then continued two hours later in Norris Hall, an academic building where most of the deaths occurred. Wallace said "Nightly" would try to establish a timeline for the shooting and if law enforcement did enough to warn students after the first shooting.
Some of the first shaky images of the campus with audio of the crack of gunfire came from the cell phone of student Jamal Albarghouti, who was outside Norris Hall when the second round occurred, and had no idea there had been an earlier shooting.
Albarghouti uploaded the video to CNN's I-Report Web site. "The first thing I saw was police taking their guns out, and I knew this was serious," he told CNN.
Coverage of the shootings dominated cable news throughout the day, and the networks broke into their daytime schedules repeatedly to update viewers. For many, the images of students being carried out of buildings, heavily armed law enforcement officials swarming the campus and impromptu candlelight vigils for the victims stirred memories of the chilling slayings of 12 students at Columbine high school in Colorado eight years ago this week at the hands of two fellow students who shot themselves after their rampage through the school.
Until Monday, the deadliest shooting spree in modern U.S. history was the 1991 massacre in which gunman George Hennard plowed his pickup truck into a cafeteria and shot 23 people before turning the gun on himself.
NBC's Williams was to anchor a special live edition of "Dateline NBC" from the Virginia Tech campus at 10 p.m., while ABC made room for a one-hour "Nightline," anchored by Terry Moran from the scene.
CBS' "48 Hours," "Virginia Tech: Anatomy of a Rampage," anchored by Couric, is slated for 10 tonight. ABC also plans a second "Primetime" special on the shootings for tonight.
ABC's Charlie Gibson anchored from New York on Monday night and planned to fly to Blacksburg today. Weather and the location hampered many news organizations as they scrambled to get personnel to the scene.
Many relied on Washington, D.C.-based anchors, producers and equipment, a five-hour drive away. CNN national correspondent John King was on the Acela from D.C. to New York when the shootings were first reported.
His producers stopped him in Baltimore, where he turned around and headed to Blacksburg, where he will anchor a special edition of "Anderson Cooper 360" starting at 10 p.m. CNN also scrapped Larry King's planned interview with Oprah Winfrey to do an hour on the shootings.
Fox News dispatched Greta Van Susteren, Geraldo Rivera and Shepard Smith to Blacksburg. Smith was to anchor a special "Fox Report" from Blacksburg, while Van Susteren was prepping a two-hour version of "On the Record" from the scene and Rivera a two-hour "Geraldo at Large" starting at midnight.
All the major ayemcasts sent anchors to the scene. Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira and Tiki Barber were sent to Blacksburg to anchor "Today," CBS' "Early Show" sent co-anchor Harry Smith, and ABC's "Good Morning America" sent Robin Roberts and Chris Cuomo. "GMA" anchor Diane Sawyer is expected to join them in Blacksburg today.
CNN sent its new "American Morning" duo John Roberts and Kiran Chetry to Blacksburg. Rivera was working overtime for Fox News Channel on the story. After his two-hour midnight special, Rivera was expected to be in the saddle this morning at 5 a.m. EDT to co-anchor the network's ayemcast "Fox & Friends."
